Chapter 97 Piercing Words
ARYA’S POV
I couldn't breathe or process what I was seeing.
Giovanni was here. He was actually here, standing in my doorway like something conjured from my desperate dreams.
My legs carried me forward, the towel dropping from my hand to the floor with a soft thud but I didn’t even register it.
“Gi-Gi… Gi-“ I couldn’t say it.
My tongue felt too heavy and my throat had tightened painfully.
Was this real? Was he here?
He looked tanner, like he had been somewhere with more sun. And his hair had grown longer, curling slightly at the nape of his neck.
But it was unmistakably him. Those dark eyes and that sharp jawline.
"Giovanni?" His name came out finally, but I was trembling so hard, I barely heard it.
He took a step inside, and something in me snapped.
I ran to him.
I couldn't help it. Weeks of isolation, and believing I would never see him again all exploded at once.
My legs leapt into the air and I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his waist, and burying my face against his chest.
"You're here," I sobbed. "You're actually here. I thought… I thought I would never see you again."
The words poured out in a torrent. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't betray you, I swear I didn't.” My arms squeezed him tighter. “I was so scared you just used my body, that you didn't actually care, and everything we had was a lie."
He stood rigid in my embrace, not touching me, and I pulled back just enough to look up at his face.
For some reason, I was searching for any sign of the man I used to know but what I saw made my blood run cold.
His eyes looked darker and his jaw was clenched tight.
"Get off," he hissed.
I froze, blinking at him. "What?"
"GET OFF!" His hands shot out, one wrapping around my throat as he slammed me back against the wall.
A blinding pain exploded through my skull and stars burst across my vision. His hand tightened, cutting off my air.
"You have some fucking nerve," he snarled, his face inches from mine. "Crying and apologizing while your people were here and attacked my home."
I shook my head frantically. "No!” I tried to speak, but his grip was too tight. "I didn't do anything, I swear!"
"Haven't you done enough?" His voice rose, and it was full of fury. “Haven't you destroyed enough? Taken enough from me?"
My eyes started to blur with tears and before I could stop it, they streamed down my face.
I clawed at his hand, trying to breathe, but he held me tighter.
"Please." The word came out as barely a whisper.
He leaned closer, his breath hot against my face. "I had to leave everything I was rebuilding because apparently you can't go a single fucking week without causing more damage.”
My body was trembling, I was sure that I was going to lose consciousness any more from now but he didn’t seem to care.
“What do you want from me, Arya? What else can you possibly take?" He snarled.
The door burst open and someone rushed in.
"Gio, stop!" Enzo yelled.
He grabbed Giovanni's shoulder, trying to pull him off, but Giovanni shoved him away with his free hand.
"Stay out of this, Enzo."
Enzo cursed in rapid Italian. "You're going to kill her!"
"Maybe that would solve all our problems!" Giovanni's voice cracked.
The words hit harder than his hand around my throat. My struggling weakened and everything was going hazy at the edges.
"You're pathetic," Giovanni continued, “You know that? Playing the innocent victim when you're just like your father. A liar, a manipulator and a fucking whore!"
My chest was starting to become impossibly tighter, I couldn’t breathe no matter how hard I tried.
"GIOVANNI!" Enzo grabbed him again, harder this time. "Let her go! NOW!"
Something in Enzo's tone must have gotten through because Giovanni's hand loosened. It was not much, but enough for me to drag in a desperate breath.
"You want to know what I regret?" Giovanni's eyes bored into mine, and I saw nothing but hatred there. "I regret bringing you into my home and thinking you could be anything other than what you are.
He moved closer. “You’re a fucking Vitale through and through."
Did he not see? Was he not seeing what his words were doing to me? Or maybe he just didn’t care anymore.
"And the world?" He leaned in close, his voice a deadly whisper. "The world would be better off with you dead."
Enzo finally managed to shove him away. Giovanni released me, and I crumpled immediately, sliding down the wall like a puppet with cut strings.
I couldn't breathe. Not because of his hand anymore, but because everything inside me had shattered into pieces so small I would never be able to put them back together.
The room spun, my chest heaved, but no air seemed to reach my lungs and spots danced across my vision.
Through the haze, I heard Enzo's voice, urgent and worried. "Arya? Arya, breathe. Come on, breathe!”
Giovanni was at the door. I could feel him there even without looking at all. I forced my eyes up, meeting his gaze through the blur of tears.
For just one fleeting second, I thought I saw regret, flash in his eyes at what he just did.
But it was gone, replaced by cold indifference.
"Lock her in the dungeon," he told Enzo, his voice flat. "She doesn't deserve the privilege of a room anymore."
Enzo stiffened beside me. "Gio, you can't be serious.”"
"Do it." Giovanni's hand gripped the door frame so hard his knuckles went white. "I don't want to see her face again."
He left and the door slammed with such force that the sound echoed through my bones.
I sat there on the floor, my back against the wall and my hand pressed to my bruised throat.
Enzo was saying something, but I couldn't hear him over the roaring in my ears.
The man I loved had just told me he wished I was dead and I believed him.
"Arya." Enzo's face swam into view, he looked both worried and angry. "Arya, say something."
But I had nothing left to say. Maybe Giovanni was right and the world would be better off without me in it.